Teach Me How to Care
by AriellaJay
Summary: A twist on the Pokemon Adventures manga where a young girl(my OC) meets and follows Silver throughout his adventures, helping him to overcome the darkness of his past along with the cannon characters of the story. Follows the Pokemon Adventures Manga, starting with the Gold/Silver arc. SilverxOC story. Spoilers contained for new manga readers. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Intro to our Protagonist

The sunlight shines through the windows of a small taxi cab as it pulls up through the entrance of New Bark Town. The small town seems calm, quiet, and relaxed as the mid-day rays of sunshine bask down and a gentle breeze blows. The cab pulls up to a large building, Professor Elm's laboratory. Once parked, the back passenger side door opens and a young girl steps out. She is a bit tall for her age, which is almost eleven years old, with long black hair pulled back into a low ponytail that was clipped to the back of her head with a large Butterfree styled hair clamp. The ends of her hair fell out from the top of the clip and loosely fell down around it. She had side swept fringe bangs, swept to the left side of her face. Her skin was light, but not light enough to be considered pale. Her eyes were a dark brown, with the slightest tone of red to them.

The girl was dressed in a black off the shoulder shirt that hung low on her chest, but had a white camisole underneath it. A pair of black ripped jeans fit snug to her hips and legs, being cut off by a pair of calf high black combat boots laced up with white laces. Hanging from under the bottom on her shirt on one side was part of her belt, worn more as an accessory that as a functional item, other than the fact there were three Pokeballs clipped into the respective Pokeball holders. Her ears were pierced, two studs on each lobe, all four containing black gems. Her only other jewelry was a necklace around her neck, hanging to just above the top of her camisole. It was a silver chain with a single charm: a silver oval locket engraved with the letter "K" in a fancy scripted font.

As the girl stepped out of the cab she pulled a backpack out with her. It was a simple black backpack other than a few buttons adorned to it. Each button was circular with a picture of a different pokemon on it. Eevee, Jolteon, Flareon, Vaporeon, Growlithe, and Arcanine primarily. The rest were just different types of pokeballs. She quickly shut the door to the cab and slipped her arms through the straps of her bag and looked up at the laboratory doors. The cab then changed gears into drive and pulled off as the girl began to step towards the building. "Time for an actual adventure..."


	2. Chapter 01: The Silver Eyed Thief

"Time for an actual adventure..."

The girl takes a few more steps towards the laboratory that's still a distance away when she sees someone, or something, knock on the front door in the distance then run off and disappear. Raising an eyebrow she moves behind a set of bushes and watches closely, pulling a pokeball from her belt and releasing the Pokemon inside, an Espeon. "Hey, sneak around to the other side of the building. I have a bad feeling about this... If you see anyone or anything suspicious, use Psychic on them to stall them for a moment or two..." Espeon nodded and quietly snuck off to watch the other side of the building.

At that moment, two boys ran passed the bush she hid in and up to the front of the building. The girl bit her lip. If something was going on, these two were either going to discover it first, or were part of it. She saw them move to the side of the building more in her view than her Espeon's and the one climb up onto the second floor balcony. As she saw him slide the balcony door open she make a quick decision to move in closer to hear what was going on. The boy took a step back, an Aipom on his shoulder, both looking surprised. She heard someone inside yell something about "Thief" and "Totodile" before the boy began to retort, but then switched to yelling back "Behind you!"

Commotion could be heard inside the building as the girl drew closer, her Espeon running around to join her. The boy on the ground started yelling about that being the Professor's voice and asking what was going on before throwing open the first floor door and stepping inside, slipping and falling. As the girl drew close enough to see through the doors, she spotted the boy from the balcony in a sort of Pokemon battle with someone else out of sight, most likely at the top of the stairs inside. She narrowed her gaze and quickly moved to a set of bushes against the building to continue listening. Suddenly, from the balcony above her head, a young male figure jumped out and into the tree just next to it, a Sneasel by his side. Then flames followed, burning the branch near the guys hand and causing him to lose his grip and fall to the ground just feet from the bush she hid in. His glove was burning and he quickly pulled it off, throwing it to the ground. Just as he was about to order his Sneasel to attack, the other boy from earlier ran over, holding the end of a pool cue to the throat of the one who had just fallen.

There they stood, two young boys, one golden eyed with black hair and a baseball cap, holding the pool cue, the other with longer red hair and stunning silver eyes, caught on the ground. The girl tensed, still hidden in the bushes just feet from the conflict she watched, her Espeon glued to her side ready to make a move at her trainer's command. At that moment the black haired male told the red haired to look around him. Suddenly, the girl realized that other than the bushes, there was a wall of flames from the wall on one side of the bushes to the wall on the other side, circling around them. The red haired began to reach behind him as the black hair continued to speak, talking about defeating an acrobat by restricting his movement. When he noticed the grounded male reaching, he began to bark an order to not do anything funny, and to return some bag and a Totodile.

At that moment, before the standing male could finish speaking, there was a zap of electricity through the flames behind the boy. It struck him in the back as well as the little Cyndiquil that was beside him, and they fell forward. The other male's eyes, and the girl's eyes, both went wide as the girl's Espeon glared. Through the flames was the shadow of several people, and an Elekid. With a laugh, the person in the front of the group began to speak, the flames dying down from the electric zap knocking out their source. "Sorry to interrupt!"

The red haired boy grasped a Pokeball in his now bare hand and held it up as he glared at the group. "Who are you!?" The group's leader quickly answered. "Huh? Well, since you ask, allow us to introduce ourselves! We are the infamous **Team Rocket** , and we're planning a major comeback!" Then another in the group began to speak. "We overheard something about a bag just now." Then another, "Huh, so the bag belongs to this kid. Mystery solved." Then the group continued to speak, explaining how they were supposed to be intercepting a bag the other boy who had slipped inside had which contained research data being sent to Professor Elm from Professor Oak, but mistook the two bags and grabbed the wrong one. Then they stated they had decided to steal the Professor's three Pokemon while there, Chikorita, Cyndiquil, and Totodile. The girl glared, almost letting out an angry growl at the thought. She definitely had heard of Team Rocket...

That's when the red haired boy held out the Pokeball in his hand, stating the Totodile was his, and that the black haired boy the group had knocked out had the Cyndiquil. The Team Rocket grunt yelled out in surprise, threatening the same electric shock to the red haired boy. The boy then released the Totodile from it's Pokeball, causing the Rocket Grunt to mock him about a Pokemon he just stole not going to listen to him. Flipping open a device in his hand and glancing at it, the boy smirked. "There are times when it works better with a stranger. Totodile, use frustration!" The little blue Pokemon immediately began to scratch at the grunts as ordered, it's attack rather strong due to the lack of a bond between it and his now trainer. Then the boy made a quick movement and began to snatch up the grunts' pokeballs, as one of them exclaimed. With a menacing stare from the boy's Sneasel, they froze, before the boy commanded another attack. "Faint attack!" The Sneasel took out the Elekid, which was the only opposing Pokemon at this time. Then the boy began to explain how Frustration was a move that worked best with a new Pokemon and Trainer bond, and how he had made the Totodile remember it the moment he took it. The Elekid fainted and the grunts yelled to fall back. As they scurried off, the girl could hear them yelling that they'd be back. The red haired boy then recalled the Totodile and began to quickly run off, leaving the black haired boy and the Cyndiquil faint on the ground. The girl shook her head for a moment before recalling her reluctant Espeon and following suit from the shadows.

It didn't take long before the male stopped though, his Sneasel looking around suspiciously. He then turned towards the girl's direction as she quickly moved to duck behind the nearest tree. "I know someone's following me... Show yourself!" The girl tensed for a moment, but she wasn't afraid. She moved out from behind the tree and shoved her hands in her pockets as she smirked. "Took longer than I expected for you to notice me, but still, that was pretty quick." The boy narrowed his silver eyes, brows furrowed. "Who are you...? Why are you following me...?" The girl closed her eyes and chuckled lightheartedly. "Me? I'm no one special. Just a witness to your little thievery back there at the lab is all." She cracked her eyes open slightly, just enough to watch his reaction.

The boy's eyes widened for a moment. A very brief moment. He then went back to glaring daggers at her. "So I'm guessing you're here to stop me? Turn me in? Not going to happen..." The girl's smirk got even bigger as she began to laugh a bit now. "No such plans. I promise." His glare got even more intense. "Then what are you following me for?" The girl fell silent, looking calmly at him. Her deep burgundy eyes locked with his silver ones. "I honestly don't have a reason. I just... Wanted to I guess. You seem interesting." The boy once again allowed a look of surprise to show on his face, but then quickly went back to glaring again. "Well, leave me alo-" "Not gonna happen silver eyes," she said, cutting him off. They continued to watch each other, now in silence for a few moments. He then turned on his heel and began to walk. "I'm leaving. Don't follow." The girl ran up to him and began to match his pace, him turning his head to glare at her for her defiance. "I said not gonna happen. Plus, I know your face, saw the entire incident. Wouldn't you rather me be around you and know I'm not turning you in? Keep your friends close and enemies closer? I mean, I could always go and file a report with the police. I'm an artist too, wouldn't be too hard to sketch a picture of you for them to go off of." He stopped, speechlessly fuming with anger at first. "Why do you want to follow me...?" She smiled, the edge of her lips slightly curled into a smirk. "I told you, I don't know. You just interest me." "Not a very good reason..." "Good enough for me. Better than wandering alone." He locked eyes with her again, then finally looked her up and down, examining her. She was a bit taller than him, which did intimidate him, though only slightly. He noticed the pokeballs on her belt though, and pointed at them. "Battle me. If you win, fine, but don't get in my way and make sure to fend for yourself. If I win you leave me alone. Including not going to the police." The girl's smile turned into a full on smirk. "Deal. How about a one on one. Your Sneasel versus one of my Pokemon. First one down loses." He looked back up into her eyes. "Deal."

They moved a few feet apart and the boy's Sneasel looked to him for a moment before turning it's head to the girl, watching as she reached down to grasp a Pokeball from her belt. She unclipped it and tossed it gently into the air, an Umbreon appearing from it. "Dark type versus dark type. No type advantage. Make this a little more fair." The boy watched for a moment before nodding. "Fine by me." The two began to have a stare down, neither making a move at first. Finally, the girl smirked. "Minuit, return." The boy's eyes widened for a moment, thinking she was withdrawing her Pokemon, but instead the Umbreon charged at the unsuspecting Sneasel and rammed it's head into it. The Sneasel flew back into it's trainer's arms, the two stunned for a moment. "What the-" "The counterpart to your little Frustration move, return. The stronger the bond between Pokemon and Trainer, the stronger the attack power." Umbreon had a snug look on its face as it walked over to the girl, her reaching down to pat it on the head.

"I knew that... Just, didn't expect it..." The Sneasel jumped down from his arms back onto the ground, ready to continue the battle. "Sneasel, icy wind!" The little Pokemon immediately attacked, causing the ground to freeze as a gust of air blew from it's moving clawed hand. _Only a 95% accuracy rating,_ the girl thought as she jumped to the side out of the way, her Umbreon following her. "Minuit, dark pulse." Unlike Icy Wind, the move had no dodge chance. It blasted into the Sneasel, knocking it off its feet unto the ground. The type similarity didn't cause much effect, but between the overall power of the move along with the unexpected previous attack, it was enough. The Sneasel also wasn't fully recovered from the previous battle at the lab, so it was done. The boy quickly returned it to its ball before glaring up at the girl. "You... Just go..." The girl shook her head, returning her Umbreon to its ball as well. "A deal is a deal silver eyes. I'm tagging along." The two stared each other down again, neither making a move or speaking. Finally, the boy closed his eyes. "Fine... I'll keep my deal..." The girl smiled and walked over to him as she clipped her Umbreon's ball back onto her belt. "Good. Now let's go. It's getting late and we should find a place to rest for a moment to heal your Pokemon up. I have potions with me. By the way silver eyes, what's your name anyway?"

The boy turned his head away, beginning to walk. "Just drop the eyes part... My name is Silver..." The girl blinked a few times, a bit surprised by that. She shrugged though and began to follow. "Well, I'm Ariadne. Nice to meet you, Silver." Silver looked to her for a moment, silent, then turned his attention forward and continued walking without saying a word. Ariadne sighed, knowing it would take a while for the boy to warm up, but she had plenty of time.


	3. Chapter 02: Bellsprout Pagoda

Ariadne and Silver continued to walk along beside each other, neither speaking a word. They were drawing closer to the next city: Cherrygrove. The sky was getting darker and the air a bit chilly. Ariadne looked to Silver as she pushed her hands into her pants pockets. "When we get to Cherrygrove, let's rest for the night. I still need to heal up your Sneasel and all, plus we should get something to eat." He glanced to her for a moment before returning his gaze to the path ahead of them. "Not hungry." At that moment, his stomach rumbled in defiance, clearly showing he was lying. Ariadne chuckled a bit, shaking her head slightly. "I think your stomach is saying something different. I'll treat, I promise. We can even just grab something to go and take it to a hotel or something and eat there." Silver sighed, narrowing his eyes as he glanced at her again. "Fine... Just, sandwiches... That's all I need..." Ariadne nodded and moved to take her backpack off of her back as they continued walking, pulling out a little book from the front pocket before putting the backpack back on. The cover read "Johto Region, Maps and Attractions" and had a picture of a view of the region from the sky on it. She flipped it open and turned a few pages. "Cherrygrove... Cherrygrove... Ah, there it is. Looks like we have only two options for hotels. Both are around the same price, and both have cafes in the lobby we could probably grab food at."

Silver raised an eyebrow at her, glancing at the book. "I'm guessing you aren't from around here if you have a guide book." Ariadne chuckled a bit, nodding. "I'm from the Hoenn region actually. My parents run this Pokemon breeding and contest training center there." "Contest training...?" Ariadne paused, realizing that people from the Johto region probably knew nothing about the Hoenn Region's Pokemon Contests. "It's were trainers and their Pokemon perform on stage in front of an audience. My parents are big into helping trainers raise their Pokemon to have high show potential, and then breed show champion Pokemon to try and have a line of high show potential. Not really my thing though. I'm more into battling and traveling, so I decided to take a trip here to train and all. My two main Pokemon were first discovered here in Johto, so I figured it would be the best place to start my adventure."

Silver watched her, then looked down at her belt. "You have three Pokemon with you though, don't you?" Ariadne nodded. "Yeah, my Umbreon, Espeon, and Arcanine. Why?" "Just curious..." Ariadne smiled gently, then looked up as she spotted a signpost coming up saying that Cherrygrove was just over the hill. "Come on, we're almost there." She grabbed Silver's hand and dragged him to the top of the hill. When they reached the top and stopped, he pulled his hand out from her grasp, but didn't say anything. They looked down the path and at the bottom of the hill was the little city. "Let's go get some food and rest." "Yeah..."

Not too much later, the two were standing at the front desk in a hotel lobby. Ariadne handed the receptionist some cash and was given two key cards in exchange. The girl then turned to Silver who wasn't really paying attention, but staring at the cafe on the other side of the lobby, and held one of the cards out to him. He looked at it for a moment before taking it from her. "We are sharing a room, otherwise you might run off without me." She winked at him and he glared. "Seriously?" "Yes seriously. Don't deny the fact you would."

Silence.

"Exactly. Now come on, let's go get food." She walked over towards the cafe and he followed, looking at the key card in his hand. "We have separate beds though, right?" "Of course. We just met, don't try and get me in bed with you so soon." Silver looked up at her with wide eyes. "I never said I was-" "I'm joking. Chill. Just trying to lighten you up to me a bit with some jokes." Silver sighed, glaring. "Well it's not funny." "Sure, sure. Whatever you say. Now what do you want? They have a few different types of sandwiches." He looked up at the menu and browsed for a moment. "Just a club I guess..." "Got it." Ariadne stepped up to the counter and gave the cashier their order, two club sandwiches and two bottles of water. She then paid while someone else in the kitchen area prepared the food. After a few moments, she was handed a bag with the food and bottles. "Have a nice day!" Ariadne nodded and turned back to Silver, holding the bag out to him. "Here. If one doesn't fill you, eat the second as well. I can always get myself something else later." Silver blinked, taking the bag. "You sure...?" "Yeah, your stomach was pretty loud earlier. Eat up once we get to the room." She then turned towards the elevators and began to walk, Silver watching her for a few minutes before following.

Once in the elevator, the button pressed for the top floor where their room was, Silver looked to Ariadne. "Thanks... For the food and all..." His voice was soft, barely even a mumble. Ariadne turned to look at him though, having still heard him. She smiled kindly, nodding. "Anytime, seriously." The elevator then stopped, the doors opening. The two stepped out and walked down the hall a bit before stopping at their room. Ariadne inserted her key card into the scanner on the door and it unlocked. She opened the door and the two stepped inside. Silver flipped the light switch on as Ariadne shut the door and locked it behind them. It was a standard two bed hotel room. Small desk, one small bathroom, two double beds, a small television on top of a small dresser, etc. Ariadne moved over to the bed closer to the window and took her backpack off, dropping it onto the bed. Silver moved to sit on the other bed and pulled a sandwich out of the bag, unwrapping it and staring at it for a moment.

Ariadne looked to him and chuckled. "Go ahead and eat. I'm going to take a quick shower." He nodded and took a bite of the sandwich as she opened her backpack and pulled out some clothes and a hairbrush. She placed them down on the bed next to her bag before undoing her belt and placing it down on the bed as well. She then knelt down and untied her boots before kicking them off at the foot of the bed, grabbing the clothes she had placed on in, and heading into the bathroom an closing the door behind her. Minutes later the shower water began to run.

Silver paused from eating the sandwich and glanced over at the other bed. She had left her Pokemon sitting there, along with practically all of her stuff. _She does know I'm a thief... So why would she...?_ He then sighed, shaking the thought off before returning to his sandwich. Once he finished eating it, he took the ball for his Sneasel out of his pocket and released the little black Pokemon. "Snea?" The little thing looked around, then up at its trainer. "Come relax..." The Pokemon nodded and climbed up on the bed with him, moving over to lay against a pillow. It was still tired from the battles earlier that day, and quickly fell asleep.

After a few more minutes the water stopped running, and a few minutes after that the door to the bathroom opened. Ariadne stepped out in a pair of loose black shorts and a black tank top, drying her hair with a towel. She looked over at Silver who was just sitting there, staring into his bottle of water, then went back into the bathroom to hang the wet towel up and brush her hair. After a few more moments, she walked back out with her dirty clothes and hair clamp and all in her arms. Her long black hair fell down her upper back and over her shoulders, still a bit damp with a few drops of water falling from the ends. She moved to her bed and shoved the clothes and all in her bag before zipping it up and dropping it onto the floor beside her boots. She then moved her belt to sit on the little desk before climbing into her bed and laying down. She was laying on her side with one arm under her head, the other along her side, facing Silver who still sat in silence.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Her voice was sweet and laced with a hint of concern. He glanced over at her, having just realized she was there. "Nothing." He then opened the bottle of water, took a sip and closed it. He stood, placed the bottle on the night stand, then went to turn the lights out. Ariadne now couldn't see him, but she heard him take his boots off and climb into his bed. She sighed quietly, then rolled over and closed her eyes to go to sleep.

The next morning, Ariadne woke up before Silver did. She quickly yet quietly got dressed, but this time left her hair down. Today she wore normal black jeans and a black T-shirt with her boots. She hooked her belt on like the outfit from the previous day, grabbed some money from her bag, then quietly left the room. Minutes later, Silver and his Sneasel opened their eyes and glanced around. It took them a few minutes to remember where they were, but then they looked at each other. "Think we should leave...?" His Sneasel stayed silent for a moment before shaking its head. "Snea, sneasel." Silver sighed, moving to get out of bed. "Fine... I guess a deal is a deal... But where is she anyway?" The little Pokemon shrugged. Silver then moved to go into the bathroom. After a few minutes in there, he came back out with his bedhead fixed and all. He moved over to his bed and was just about to sit down on the edge when the hotel room door clicked and opened. Ariadne walked in, a large tray of food in her hands. "Morning sleepy head. I went and got us breakfast." Silver blinked a few times, but didn't fight her. She sat the tray down on the desk and grabbed one of the two plates, handing it to him along with a fork. On the plate were pancakes, hash browns, scrambled eggs, and bacon.

"Thanks..." He took the plate and fork and began to eat. Ariadne then grabbed a small plastic bowl filled with Pokemon food and placed it on the bed near Sneasel. "This is for you." The Pokemon picked up a piece and sniffed it, then popped it in its mouth. After it swallowed it looked up and nodded. "Snea!" Ariadne chuckled. "Glad you like it." She then went to sit at the desk and eat her plate of food. Once Silver was done he looked over to Ariadne who was just about to finish her plate. "We can't stay here long. I'm sure that kid from the lab will report me to the police once he comes to... Which was probably yesterday..." Ariadne took her last bite and nodded. "Yeah, I know. We can take out plates and all back down and check out and be on our way." The two gathered their things, Silver returned his Sneasel to its ball, and they headed downstairs. Once they returned the tray and plates and all, they checked out and went outside. Not even a few steps later, they turned a corner and walked passed a bulletin board with a few posters. Ariadne stopped and stared as Silver kept going. He then stopped, took a few steps back and looked. The poster in the front was a wanted poster stating "Elm Theft Suspect" with a computer generated picture. It was his clothes, his hair, but big eyes, cheeks, and lips. Ariadne immediately began to chuckle as Silver almost fell over in shock. He regained his footing though and the two stood there staring at the poster in silence. "Let's go..." Silver's voice was dark and angry. Ariadne nodded, turning and moving along on her way. "Where to?" "Violet City..." The two then began to walk again, heading for the edge of town near the road to Violet City.

Hours later, they arrived at the Bellsprout's Pagoda in Violet City. "Stay here. I'm going inside." Ariadne turned her head with wide eyes, staring at Silver. "Wait, why do I have to stay? What about our deal?" "The deal was you could tag along... But I never agreed to you staying with me constantly..." Ariadne sighed, knowing he was right. "Fine, but be careful, ok? And don't you run off without me when you're done!" "Whatever..." Silver then went inside, leaving Ariadne behind. It was only a few minutes of her pacing in boredom before she went in after him though. Inside, she was greeted by a group on monks and their Bellspout. "Hello! Are you here for the training?" She blinked a few times. "Ahhhh..." The monks then began to introduce themselves. "Look, my traveling partner just came in here a few minutes ago. I'm trying to catch up to him." "Bellsprout's Pagoda is soley for the purpose of training. If you'd like to search for him, you'll have to go through the challenges to catch up." Ariadne groaned, then pulled out a pokeball. "I have an Arcanine. Really want to take me on with Bellsprout? I could easily just burn this whole place down." The monks froze, then sighed. "Very well, go ahead." Ariadne smiled and moved to run up the stairs. "Thanks!" As she scaled the stairs, she then heard the monks behind her go into their whole introduction again, and a familiar voice was answering them. She looked back down to see the black haired golden eyed boy from the lab now battling the Bellsprout with his Aipom and Cyndiquil. Biting her lip, Ariadne quickly made her way further up the steps to try and find Silver. Soon she caught up to him, running towards him just as he finished speaking into the Pokegear on his wrist.

"Silver!" The boy froze in place before turning his attention to the black haired girl. "I told you to wait outside." "Well I got bored, and I'm glad I came in, cuz that kid from the Pokemon Lab is here. We gotta go, come on." Just then, the two heard someone yell "Hey!" and looked down the steps to see the black haired boy running up with his Cyndiquil. "You! Wait!" Silver's Sneasel was at his side, arms wrapped around his leg, Totodile close by. "Totodile, slash!" Silver commanded as the boy continued to run up towards them. Totodile listened, slashing at the staircase and breaking it in front of the boy. The boy's Aipom jumped off his shoulder and grabbed the end of the good staircase with its tail and held onto it's falling trainer with it's hands, the Cyndiquil clinging to the trainer's feet. "You're not getting away!" the boy yelled as Silver stood there staring at him. The boy's Aipom pulled him and the Cyndiquil up onto the stairs. "I've been hunting you from New Bark Town, now I've finally found you, Silver!" Silver and Ariadne stood there staring in silence, then Cyndiquil stepped forward towards Totodile, the two looking ready for battle. Then Totodile moved to chomp on Cyndiquil's head, Cyndiquil chomping on Totodile's leg. The boy reached the top of the stairs where the Pokemon continued chomping on each other, and the three trainers just stared at the two little Pokemon for a few moments. Finally, Totodile flung Cyndiquil off and Silver gave a command.

"Totodile, scratch!" The little blue Pokemon listened, starting to scratch at it's fiery foe who quickly dodged. "Explotaro, tackle attack!" Totodile wasn't able to dodge, and was rammed into by the Cyndiquil. "Return the Totodile you stole from Professor Elm, or else!" Ariadne just watched from a few feet behind Silver, staying silent. Finally, Silver responded. "Fat chance." That's when the other boy went on about he should've known. That if Silver would have returned Totodile just like that he wouldn't have stolen the Pokemon in the first place, but that he promised to get the little Pokemon back safely. The battle continued, Cyndiquil using ember. Totodile quickly countered with water gun though, and Silver smirked. He commented on how Cyndiquil would never beat Totodile, that water would always win against fire. The boy glared daggers, yelling that he knew that. He then went on about how he knows the Cyndiquil was doing it's best to get it's friend back, regardless of being at a type disadvantage. Silver quickly retorted. "What a Pokemon can or cannot fight has already been decided by the ecology of nature. It has got nothing to do with guts and courage." The other boy barked back about Silver being wrong and how that he'd prove it. At that moment, the Cyndiquil started to have smoke come from it's back, filling the room with the dark heavy air. Silver began to cough. "I... I can't see!" Ariadne coughed as well, done watching this from the sidelines when she heard the other boy exclaim this was his chance. She could barely see herself, but she moved to run towards Silver as the smoke got thicker and the boy commanded his Cyndiquil to continue with the smoke screen. "Ugh, my eyes..." Ariadne heard Silver grumble as she got closer and grabbed his sleeve. "Come on, let's get out of this smoke!" That's when she heard the other boy looking for the Totodile and she recalled he had goggles on his hat. "Dammit, he must have put his goggles on so he can see in this. Come on Silver!" Then she heard the boy taking to Totodile about how awful it must be to stick with Silver and how he could come back with him, then a yell of pain after a very audible chomp. Silver pulled his arm free of Ariadne's grasp as the smoke began to subside.

"Don't tell me you prefer to stay with that guy!?" The boy yelled at the Totodile who had just bit him. Ariadne rubbed her eyes clear and looked between the two, stepping back a bit to watch again. "But of course!" Silver yelled as Totodile did a back flip over to him. "What?" "It appears your smoke screen is running out of steam." Silver then glanced to the little Cyndiquil who was still trying to produce the smoke, but running out of energy. Silver then began to brush off his shoulder as he spoke. "Only a weakling... will rely on such deceptive attacks..." "Shut up!" "I'm just telling it like it is. Totodile wants to stay with me, because this is the only way he can become stronger. So strong that he won't need to resort to cheap tricks to fight." "Are you sure Totodile!? I can't tell what you're thinkin', since you always wear the same expression..." Then a loud sound began to rumble through the air. The three froze before the other boy began to look around. "Huh? What's that sound!?"

At that moment, spikes flung out from the walls that began to close in, and a panel in the ceiling opened dropping a large ball. Silver, his Pokemon, and Ariadne jumped out of the way as the other boy stepped back in shock. "This place is booby trapped!" Silver cringed for a moment, before he spoke. "There's nowhere to run! We'll have to catch it!" The three were pinned at the top of the steps with their Pokemon behind them. Ariadne bit her lip as the two boys reached forward to catch the heavy ball, before stepping forward as well to try and hold it back. The other boy began to slip as he yelled out "Where on Earth did these things come from!?" Silver was beginning to sweat as he pushed the ball to try and hold it back. Ariadne pushed beside him, squeezing herself between him and the stairwell wall. Silver was about to answer, but Ariadne took this chance to speak. "I read that this place is filled with traps used in their training. You must of set these off with that smoke screen. You just had to use it, didn't you!?" "Who the hell are you anyway!? And how is this my fault!? He's the one who broke the staircase so now we have nowhere to escape!" "Look, this is for training, so the Pokemon should be able to help!" Silver glanced at his Totodile when Ariadne spoke. "Totodile, go!" The little blue Pokemon jumped on top of the ball, and the Cyndiquil followed suit. "Explotaro, you're going too!?" The two pokemon began to whisper to each other, before the Cyndiquil had flames shoot from it's back and hit the ball. The boy started yelling about the ball being hot, but Ariadne had an idea of what the Pokemon were doing. Before she could say anything, Silver commanded Totodile to use ice punch on the no burning hot ball. The Pokemon listened, and the ball cracked and fell to pieces, the force pushing the three trainers and the two Pokemon over the broken stairwell onto the floor of the level below.

The boy began to talk about how it worked and it being perfect coordination between buddies. Then he turned to thank Totodile, but the Pokemon, Silver and Ariadne had already ran off while he was talking to his Cyndiquil. The two quickly escaped the Pagoda and began to walk away, making it a short distance when Totodile evolved into Croconaw. "Well that was unexpected..." Silver nodded, but then pulled out a Pokedex and faced it to Croconaw. "Regardless, target achieved. Totodile has now evolved into Croconaw."


	4. Chapter 03: Uncle Kurt

After the happenings at the Bellsprout Tower, Silver and Ariadne decided to move on quickly to the next destination.

"So where next exactly? Azalea Town?" Ariadne asked as she walked quickly behind Silver towards the edge of town, her guide book in her hands. Silver nodded as he glanced bnack at her with a slight smirk. "Yes, but to get there you'll have to pass through Union Cave. You going to be ok with that?" Ariadne chuckled, smirking back at him. "I'm not some girly girl who's afraid of dark dirty caves, so yes. I'll be ok." His smirk faded, and he continued on. "I could get there faster by having Murkrow fly me you know..." Ariadne flinched, her smirk turning into a frown. "Damn, you're right about that... Guess I should get myself a flying type soon..." Silver stared at her, silently waiting for her to say he could go on without her. She sighed as she realized this, shaking her head. "No, I'm not letting you go without me. Who knows how long it will take me to get through the cave compared to you flying over it." With a sigh himself, Silver rolled his eyes and kept moving. "Whatever..."

The two made their way along, coming up on a Pokemon center and the entrance to Union Cave. Ariadne and Silver looked at each other for a moment before Silver took the lead into the cave entrance, Ariadne close behind. It was dark, but not so dark that they couldn't see. The cave floor was rough and rocky, as to be expected, but the two kept their pace as fast as they could. They stayed quiet to avoid startling the cave Pokemon, and so they were able to make it through rather quickly. Upon exiting the cage they continued on the Azalea town.

"So, any plans while we are here, or are we just passing through?" Ariadne asked as Silver and her walked passed the well by the entrance to the town. "I need to see someone... He makes special Pokeballs from Apricorns..." "Oh! You mean Kurt! My dad and him used to be good friends as kids actually. I think they still talk now and then!" Silver glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "Have you met him yourself?" "When I was a kid, yeah." "Interesting... Well, his house is over here..." The two stopped and looked at the house in front of them. It was a small little shack with some smoke coming out from a chimney. Ariadne stepped forward to approach the door before knocking on it gently.

After a few moments, the door opened and an older man stood there. "Hello young la... Wait... Ari? Is that you?" Ariadne smiled and waved. "Hey Uncle Kurt, surprised you recognize me. It's been forever." "Well your father called the other day and let me know you were heading to Johto for a while. Said to keep an eye out for you and told me how much you'd grown." He put his hand on Ariadne's head and ruffled her hair a bit. "It's nice to see you." A deep blush crossed Ariadne's cheeks as she fixed her hair and cleared her throat. "Well, I'm not exactly here on a social call..." It was now that Silver stepped forward, holding a black apricorn he had taken from his pocket. "My, uh, companion here would like your help." Kurt looked to Silver and nodded. "Very well, you two come inside."

Once they were all inside the little house, Kurt took the black apricorn and moved over to his area where he builds pokeballs. "You two can have a seat over there. Feel free to some water and snacks in the fridge there." He pointed towards the kitchen and a little table low to the ground with pillows to sit on. As Silver and Ariadne made their way over, a little girl sat up from laying on the other side of the table. "Hello! I can get you guys anything you need!" Silver nodded, taking out two pokeballs and releasing his Sneasel and Croconaw. "Just some water and food for them..." Ariadne nodded with a simple "me too" before the two trainers took a seat.

Kurt began working on the ball immediately. his Shuckle crawling over and watching him. The little girl handed Silver and Ariadne each a glass of water, then placed down two bowls of Pokemon food. "What about you miss? Are your Pokemon hungry?" Ariadne smiled, nodding her head. "They likely are. Some food for them would be great." "No problem! I'll be right back." She ran back into the kitchen to prepare more food. "Um, how many bowls?" "Three please." "Yes ma'am!" As the little girl got the pokemon food ready, Ariadne let her 3 pokemon out. Espeon, Umbreon, and Arcanine all looked at her, then glanced around. "Aurore, Minuit, Ardeur." The three looked back at her. "Are you hungry?" They nodded and looked to the girl as she approached with the bowls of food and placed them on the floor. The three immediately began to eat.

Once the Pokemon were done eating, Sneasel and Croconaw looked over and watched Kurt as he made the pokeball from the apricorn. Ardeur, Ariadne's Arcanine moved to lay behind it's trainer, pressed up against her back with it's side and laying it's head on it's paws. She leaned back into it slightly, moving her hand to pet his head gently. Her Espeon and Umbreon laid close by, curled up with each other. Silver glanced to Ariadne as she closed her eyes and let out a soft yawn. "Getting tired?" She nodded slightly. "It's getting later in the day. And we did do a lot today so far, remember?" He paused, and nodded. "Go ahead and take a nap then..." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Only if you promise to wait until I wake up to leave, or wake me up to come with you. I want to see what you do with this pokeball." "Very well." She nodded and moved to lay down, using her Arcanine as a pillow. She quickly fell asleep, her breathing slowing down a bit from her relaxed state. Once Silver was assured she was sleeping, he moved to watch Kurt as well with his pokemon.

"So, how do you know Ari?" Kurt asked as he continued his work. Silver thought for a moment on how to answer. "We met when she first arrived... Had a battle, and she asked to travel with me... I agreed..." Kurt nodded, smiling slightly. "Well, take care of her. According to her father she is very adventurous and loves to do risky things..." He paused, looking over to Silver. "How old are you, anyway?" Silver looked at him before closing his eyes. "I'm eleven..." Kurt nodded. "So young still... Ari there is almost eleven now her father told me. I'm surprised she gets along with someone younger than her. She used to always get on better with those older, not younger. But hey, things change." Silver just shrugged, not wanting to go into more details.

A bit later, Kurt finally spoke again. "Almost done, just a little bit more... Hope you don't mind me asking," he began as Silver turned his attention back to him. "But this pokeball you have requested me to make... What do you intend to use it for? You have something you'd like to hunt?" Silver nodded, a determined look in his eye. "Yes, there is a tough pokemon that I want to capture." Kurt laughed a bit, banding his hammer down on the almost complete pokeball again. "I like that determined look in your eyes young man. But frankly, it doesn't matter what you use it for. I only make pokeballs for those I think are qualified enough and have the ability to use it well. To me, that's good enough." He then grabbed the special pokeball and turned to Silver, placing it on a table between them. Done! This is made with the black apricorn you brought back..." Silver lifted the special pokeball up and looked at it. "This is the Heavy Ball." Kurt then turned back to his station. "Now wake up Ari and get on with your hunt, ok?" Silver sighed, looking to Ariadne who was still sound asleep against Arcanine, who too was sleeping. Silver stood and returned his pokemon to their pokeballs before moving over to Ariadne's side. Arcanine woke up, lifting it's head and looking at him. Silver paused. "I'm just waking her up like she asked..." The pokemon closed it's eyes, relaxing again. Silver placed his hand on Ariadne's shoulder and nudged it gently. "Wake up..."

With a yawn, she moved her hands to her eyes and rubbed them for a moment before looking up at him through slightly open eyes. It was obvious she was still half asleep. "Hi handsome," she said softly in a very sleep heavy voice. Silver tensed at her words, his cheeks turning a slight shade of pink, before he nudged her again. "Ariadne, wake up." She blinked a few times before her eyes opened all the way and her cheeks turned a dark red. "Uh, um... Sorry, sorry... Didn't realize it was you..." She quickly got up, obviously flustered after realizing what she had said to him. She quickly returned her pokemon to their ball without waking them and started towards the door. "Let's go, ok?" Silver nodded, following her out.

Once the two were outside the little girl looked at Kurt. "They are cute, aren't they? I hope auntie Ari and him like each other." Kurt chuckled. "We'll see."


End file.
